Multiplex communications – Communication over free space – Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-08
2002-03-12
Marcelo, Melvin (Department: 2663)
Multiplex communications
Communication over free space
Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by...
C370S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06356541
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for transmitting communications data of a computer via a communications network, in particular via a public telephone network.
Communication and exchange of data between computers has become much more significant in the last few years. In particular, owing to the continuous growth of the international computer network that is known for short as the “Internet”, the exchange of data between internationally networked computers has become more and more important.
The Internet is a connection of several thousand computer networks. At present, approximately 40 million subscribers have access to over 3 million computers via the Internet. The Internet has become established in particular on the basis of a service which is known as the World Wide Web (WWW).
The World Wide Web makes it possible to view documents in graphic form. The documents can include sound sequences and video sequences as well as graphics and connections to other documents. These are therefore documents that are not only suitable for reading but can also be used to execute commands. By clicking on a graphic with the computer mouse, a new document can thus be called and a connection can be set up to a computer that may be thousand of kilometers away.
Apart from the World Wide Web, a large number of other services are offered on the Internet. The most well known is probably so-called e-mail, which enables electronic mail to be sent via the public communications network, i.e. the public telephone network.
By connecting a computer or personal computer to the Internet, the user can then access all the other computers connected to the Internet and use the data or services that are made available on the individual computer.
A user obtains access to the Internet via a central computer of a service provider, the service provider usually charging a certain use fee for providing access to a central computer.
Since the user uses his computer to access the central computer via the public telephone network, the telephone charges that are incurred during the communications link also have to be paid.
An analog modem or an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card, which has to be inserted into the personal computer (PC) serves as the interface between the computer and the public telephone network. For ISDN operation, external devices are also known whose appearance is similar to that of a modem and which are connected, like a modem, to the telephone network on the one hand and to a (serial) interface of the computer on the other.
A user of the Internet usually has access authorization to just one service provider. However, the service providers frequently make available a number of telephone addresses at different local access points for the user so that the user can select the access point which is nearest to his location in order to minimize the telephone charges. In addition to the telephone charges, there are also the use fees to be paid to the service provider before authorization for access to the Internet, the fees and charges being determined according to the period of use and possibly also the time of day or weekday.
However, a user frequently also has a number of access authorizations to different service providers so that for the user there is the need, whenever he accesses the Internet, to minimize the costs incurred and as far as possible make use of the cheapest service provider.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a device for transmitting communications data of a computer via a communications network that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art devices of this general type, for transmitting communications data of a computer via a communications network, in particular a public communications network, the fees incurred for a user while he is connected to the Internet being minimized.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a device for transmitting communications data of a computer via a communications network, including a circuit containing:
an address-data memory for storing address data and storing at least two different addresses of the communications network from which a user is authorized to access a computer network, the address-data memory further storing associated cost data corresponding to the addresses;
a selection unit connected to the address-data memory, the selection unit selecting a most economical address of the addresses of the communications network relating to the computer network in dependence on the cost data corresponding to the addresses; and
at least one transceiver unit for setting up a communications link to the most economical address selected by the selection unit and via which the communications data are transmitted.
In particular, the present invention is based on the object of providing a device of the type mentioned at the beginning with which, when mobile terminals are used, not only the use fees that are incurred by the access to a service provider but also the fees that are incurred for using the public communications network, i.e. the public telephone network, during the communications link, are minimized.
The device according to the invention has memories in which at least two different addresses of a service provider or different service providers at which a user can access a central computer of a service provider via the public telephone network, and thus access to the Internet, is provided. The present invention is however not restricted to access to the so-called Internet but can also be applied to a computer network of any other configuration on which access authorizations are offered by specific providers.
When an Internet access command is received, the selection unit of the device according to the invention checks the individual stored addresses and, taking into account cost data provided for each address, selects the access address of the provider which is the most economical one for the user.
It is advantageous that the addresses stored in the memory do not relate to just one service provider but instead the user has access authorizations to the Internet via various service providers, so that at least one access address is stored for each service provider in the memory. In addition to the addresses of the public telephone network, the respective fee data are also stored for each service provider. Therefore, when an Internet access command is received, the device according to the invention automatically selects the service provider that is the most economical for the user as well as the most economical address of the service provider.
The device according to the invention can be implemented in the form of an analog modem or of an ISDN card or a corresponding external ISDN device. In addition, analog modem cards that can be installed internally in the computer like an ISDN card are also known. While the modems operate in analog fashion, the ISDN modules are digital variants of a modem.
Since the Internet addresses stored in the memory of the device according to the invention usually relate to different types of access, so that the telephone charges incurred during a connection via the corresponding addresses—which are not always determined according to connection time but may also be distance-dependent—may be of different levels. The selection of the service provider which is most economical for a user, or of the most economical Internet address, is carried out not only taking into account the access fees which are respectively charged by the service providers but also the telephone charges which are incurred during the communications link to the respective central computer. In this context, it is to be expressly noted that in the present application the term “Internet address” or “address” always refers to a telephone number at which a central computer of a service provider can be accessed via the public communications or telephone network in order to
Müller Wilhelm
Takanen Seppo
Greenberg Laurence A.
Lerner Herbert L.
Marcelo Melvin
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Stemer Werner H.
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